Automatic actuator for mail box signal



March 8, 1960 E. H. KREIDER AUTOMATIC ACTUATOR FOR MAIL BOX SIGNAL FiledApril 8. 1958 INVENTOR L i lllll EKM Him-7 (BM/o4 35.

ATTORN Y United States Patent Enos H. Kreider, Lancaster, Pa.

Application April 8, 1958, Serial No. 727,151 r 2 Claims. (Cl. 23235) Myinvention relates broadly to a rural delivery type of mail box, and moreparticularly to an automatic actuator for mail box signals. 1

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a construction ofautomatic actuator for mail boxes-which is adjustable to control themovement of a flag indicator according to the opening and closing of themail box closure.

Another object of my invention is to provide an attachment which may bereadily applied to the staff of a mail box flag-staff and extending inthe path of the mail box closure for insuring the automatic operation ofthe indicator according to the movement of the mail box closure,

Still another object of my invention is to provide a construction offlag for the flag-staff of a mail box indicator which is proportioned torender the flag visible from positions around a wide orbit over whichthe mail box is visible to enable the position of the flag indicator tobe readily discernible. r

Still another object of my invention is to provide a structure formounting the flag-staff of a mail box and an arrangement of actuatorassociated therewith and correlated with the movement of the mail boxclosure for insuring the reliable operation of the flag-staff accordingto the movement of the mail box closure.

-'Other and further objects of my invention reside in the structurala-ssemby of adjustable actuator and mail' box flag-staif and the pivotalmounting thereof as set:

forth more fully in the specification hereinafter following by referenceto the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the automaticactuator for mail box signals associated with the door of the mail boxand the actuator for correlating the movement of the flag-staff withrespect to the door of the mail box;

i Fig. 2 is a view similar to the view shown in Fig.1 but'illustratingthe manner in which the flag-staff is elevated to raised position as thedoor of the mail box is opened;

Fig-3 is a view similar to the views shown in Figs. 1 and 2, butillustrating the flag-staff moved to raised position with the doorclosure of the mail box moved to a completely open position;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the mail box and associated signal arrangedaccording to my invention and showingparticularly the actuator armassociated with the flag-staff in such a position that the arm isdisplaceable according to the movement of the door closure;

Fig. 5 isan enlarged fragmentary side elevational view showing theadjustable actuator associated with the flags'tafi and correlated withthe movement of the door closure; V

*Fig'. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 6-'- 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the flag-stafi and theactuator associated therewith and illustrating particularly the mannerin which the actuator may be raised or lowered with respect to theflag-staff in correlating themovement of the flag-staff with themovement of the door closure;

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 8- 8 of Fig. 5, andillustrating particularly the manner in which the actuator arm isadjustably locked in position with respect to the flag-staff;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the strap which encirclesthe actuatorarm and the flag-staff for adjustably locating the actuator arm inposition with respect to theflagstaff; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper extremity of theactuator arm which may be selectively moved into position along theflag-staff and locked in sue position by the strap of Fig. 9.

- My invention is directed to an arrangement of auto matic actuatorapplicable to mail boxes of the rural de-' livery type for operating thesignal of such a mail .box in correlation with the door closure of themail box so that opening of the door closure of the mail boxautomatically raises the flag-staff of the signal indicator to".

give visual notice from a distance that mail has been. left in the box.For example, the mail man-approaching: the mail box may find theindicator flag down. As themail man opens the box, the movement, ofo'thedoorclosure automatically raises the signal which is main-- tained inelevated position. Themail man closes the: box, leaving the signalindicator flag-staff in raised posi-- tion, which enables the mail boxto be observed from a distance by the property occupants who are put onnotice} to call for the mail. When the mail'is called for, the:indicator flag is lowered by manipulation of the actuator" arm.

On other occasions, with the indicator fiagindowm position, the propertyoccupant opens the closure door,i puts inthe mail, closes the mail boxdoor, giving notice to the mail man to stop at the box for collectionofmailxt because, in the initial opening of the mail box door, the: flagindicator is raised by engagement of the door closure;- withthe actuatorarm. v

There are occasions when the mail man stops to col-E. lect the mail and,at the same time, has mail 'to deliver,;' in which event the mail manleaves the flag raised and; the property occupant, by judging the'time'for pick-up and delivery and being put on notice by the raisedflag, goes to the mail box to obtain the delivered mail. The; flagindicator on the flag-staff of my invention, is so pro-- portioned inlength and width that it is readily observable from a distance invarious directions both by the property occupant and the mail man.

I provide a flag-staff assembly which includes a pivotal mounting at thelower end thereof and an indicator flag at the other end thereof with anadjustable actuator arm connected with the flag-staff and extending inan angular direction beyond the door closure of the mail boxand in thepath of the door closure so that, as the 'door'is moved to openposition, the door engages the actuator arm, moving the actuator arm inan arcuatepath. for: orienting the flag-staif about its pivot forraising the in; dicator to elevated position. A special feature of the;assembly of my invention is the adjustable connection, which I providebetween the actuator arm andthe flag,-, staif in association with theslotted connection of the end; of the flag-staff with the pivotstructure on the mail box; enabling the flag-staff to be raised byengagement of'the actuator arm with the door closure and moved from ahorizontal position to a vertical indicating position. I have found theassembly of my invention very effective in operation and, while I havedescribed my invention herein in one of its preferred embodiments, Irealize that modifications may be made, and I desire that the showingherein be considered in the illustrative sense and not in the limitingsense.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, Reference character 1indicates the mail box having a pivotally connccted door closure 2 atone end thereof pivoted adjacent the bottom of the mail box as indicatedat 3. The top portion of the door 2 has a composite handle and outstruckresilient lug member 4 connected therewith. The resilient lug isindicated at 5 and coacts with a resilient recess 6 formed in the strap7 which is secured to the top of the mail box 1 as indicated at 8. Thecomposite handle and lug 4 and the strap 7 are apertured as indicated at9 for the passage of a lock.

I provide a fitting on one side of the mail box 1 as indicated at 10constituted by an outstruck channel providing an offset or socket space11 with respect to the sidewall of the mail box 1 through which thelower end of the flag-staff 12 extends. The lower end of the flagstaff12 is cut on a bias at one edge thereof as represented as 14, and thereis a slot 15 formed in the lower end of the flag-staff 12 extending inan angular direction which is substantially parallel with the edge 14 ofthe flag-staff, permitting the flag-staff to be oriented from ahorizontal position to a vertical position with substantial lost motionto insure movement of the flag-staff under control of a. force impartedthereto from the hinged door 2 for gravitating the lower end of theflag-staff into the socket formed by the channel constituting thefitting. The fitting 10 is shaped to allow orientation of the flag-staff12 from a horizontal position to a vertical position by cutting away oneside of the channel 11 in the corner that is remote from the pivot 3 ofthe door. This cut-away portion of the fitting 10 terminates in anoutwardly projecting lug 16 which serves as a stop for the flag-staff 12for maintaining the flag-staff 12 in a horizontal position free formovement to a vertical position under control of the movement of doorclosure 2 at 3. This movement is correlated by means of the actuator arm17 which is adjustably connected to the flag-staff and extends at anangle thereto adjacent one side of the door closure 2 and terminates ina laterally extending extension 18 at the end thereof projecting in thepath of move ment of door closure 2. The upper end of the arm 17 isformed into a hook 19 which engages the side and edge of flag-staff 12.The actuating arm 17 may be raised or lowered with respect to theflag-staff 12 to properly correlate the laterally extending extension 18with the door 2 to insure the movement of the flag-staff 12 undercontrol of the movement of door 2. In order to selectively set actuatorarm 17 with respect to flag-staff 12, I provide a strap member 20 whichhas a curved portion 21 at one end thereof embracing the hook 19 onactuator arm 17 when fitted around fiag-stafi 12 and which is providedwith a laterally extending end portion 22 projecting beyond the plane offlag-staff 12 as shown more particularly in Fig. 8. The laterallyextending end portion 22 is provided with a screw-threaded aperture 23therein through which the adjustable screw 24 extends. The adjustablescrew 24 is provided with a conical shaped end 25 adapted to bearagainst one edge of flag-staff 12 for locking the upper portion ofactuator arm 17 in a selected position on flag-staff 1-2 when assembledin the relationship shown in Fig. 8. The connection afforded by theconical shaped end 25 of the adjustable screw 24 insures the correlationof the actuating arm 17 with the movement of door closure 2 for raisingflag-staff 12 to the vertical position illustrated in Figs. 3 and .4-7.The rivet member 26 that extends through the sidewall of the mail box 1and through the offset channel portion 11 of fitting 10 provides a pivotfor the lower end of flag-staff 12 with respect to which flag-staff 12has com posite translatory and rotative movement permitted by thearrangement of slot 15 on a bias as indicated in Figs. 5 and 7. Byvirtue of the slotted arrangement at 15, flag-staff 12 may be orientedfrom the horizontal position shown in Fig. 1 to the vertical positionshown in Fig. 3 as the door closure 2 engages the laterally extendingprojection 18 of actuator arm 17 at the position indicated in Fig. 1 andmoves the flag-staff to the position indicated in Figs. 3, 5, and 7.There are occasions when the assembly of my invention is applied to mailboxes of different manufacturers where it is desirable to shift theactuating arm 17 in position with respect to the flag-staff 12. This isreadily accomplished by my invention by loosening screw 24 and raisingor lowering actuating arm 17 with respect to flag-staff 12.

The indicator flag in the assembly of my invention is proportioned toafford maximum visibility from all directions. Where installations ofmail boxes are made along the roadway with the axes of the mail boxesextending laterally of the roadway, the indicator flag is proportionedso that part 27 thereof is shorter than the part 28 thereof as viewed inFig. 4. This insures visibility of the flag to the mail man who requiresonly a relatively small portion of the indicator flag to be visible tohim as his approach is relatively close to the mail box, whereas theproperty occupants, located at a substantial distance from the mail box,has the advantage of viewing the larger portion of the flag 28 from adistance. I have found the proportion of the fiag, when distributed inthis manner, more useful in producing uniform visibility to everyoneconcerned.

There are occasions in production runs of mail boxes of certain typeswherein the actuating arm may be permanently welded to the flag-staff,and I desire to embrace this modification within the scope of myinvention.

While I have described my invention in one of its preferred embodiments,I realize that modifications may be made, and I desire that it beunderstood that no limitations upon my invention are intended other thanmay be imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is as follows:

1. In a mail box signal, a mail box flag-staff, a pivot for mounting thelower end of the flag-staff, an actuator arm, both said flag-staff andsaid actuator arm being constituted by fiat strips lying in flatoverlapping relation, with said actuator arm extending at an angle tothe axis of said flag-staff and beyond the pivot thereof, a lateralextension on one end of said actuator arm, an adjustable connectionbetween the other end of said actuator arm and said flag-staff in aposition above the pivot comprising a diagonally disposed hook portionhavmg a linearly extending section slidably engaging one edge of saidflag-staff with the surface of the actuator arm extending in surfacecontact with the surface of said flag-staff, whereby said actuator armis slidable to selected adjusted positions with respect to said fiagstatf with the diagonally disposed hook portion engaging the edge of theflag-staff in the selected position, a laterally extending slidableclamp having a curved portion on one end thereof and a laterallydisposedend portion on the other end thereof, the said curved portion of saidclamp engaging the hook portion of said actuator arm for maintainingsaid actuator arm in a selected position on said flag-staff and alocking screw extending through the laterally disposed end portion ofsaid clamp and adjustable therein for engaging the opposite edge of said:flag-statf for frictionally maintaining said actuator arm in a.selected position on said flag-staff for correspondingly COl'ltI'Qlling.

2. A mail box signal as set forth in claim 1 in which said locking screwis cone-shaped on the end thereof and presents an inclined face to thelast mentioned edge of said flag-stafi for orienting said clamplaterally with respect to both said actuator arm and said flag-stafi formaintaining said actuator arm in a selected adjusted position withrespect to said flag-staff.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ScottDec. 30, 1924 Sandifur Sept. 7, 1937 Foster July 2, 1957 Doetsch Oct.15, 1957 Carey May 13,1958

